Being a customer of an international bank won't save you any money - at least not when it comes to withdrawing cash while you're abroad anyway.

In fact, taking cash out of a machine from a foreign branch of your home bank will cost the same amount as non-customers withdrawing money.

Banks such as Abbey, which is owned by Spanish bank Santander, and HSBC have hundreds of branches world-wide. But taking cash out of one of their machines will not save you any fees. Like other UK banks, even those without overseas branches, you will be charged a "foreign currency usage fee" for taking cash out.

With Abbey and HSBC this is 2.75 per cent - plus a one-off charge per transaction. This means you will pay around #5 for every #100 you take out.

The cheapest way to take money out is to get a Nationwide BS current account. This has no ATM fee and no foreign usage charge.

Also try to remember to avoid withdrawing cash on a credit card as you will not only have to pay a high interest rate but you will also be bit hit with a raft of other charges as well.